Impacted crop or something else?

[Avigail]

I bought chickens for the first time last week, and one seems sick. It seems really low energy (sleeping most of the day with her head under her wing), but will the take her head out and look like she's gasping for breath. She opens her beak and stretches her neck upwards, looking like shes trying to clear her airway. No coughing or wheezing. She had a big lump to the right side of her throat, that made me think it's an impacted crop, but it looked like it was a bit too high up for that. It was very hard to the touch. I gave her coconut oil and water and massaged it, and it went down, but shes still gasping. Does it take a bit to resolve? Can it be something else? Infection? I cant smell anything when smelling close to her beak.

 

[CluckerFamily]

How old are the chicks?
What are you feeding them?
Is the lump there in the morning or afternoon?

 

[Avigail]

How old are the chicks?
What are you feeding them?
Is the lump there in the morning or afternoon?

I dont know how old they are, I didnt ask when I bought them. I have 5, and one is laying eggs but the rest are not. I can take pictures tomorrow morning (dark now). Feeding them chicken feed plus kitchen scraps like peelings and leafys (no nightshades). The lump was noticeable to the eye this morning, and I did the massaging this afternoon. I havent seen the sick chicken eat or drink. I gave her a few syringefuls of water this afternoon when doing the massage; she seemed really happy to get the water. She did not go into the henhouse from the run tonight with the other chickens; I had to pick her up and put her in.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Do they have access to grit?

 

[Avigail]

Do they have access to grit?

Just put in today. She hasn't gone for it though, or anything else

 

[CluckerFamily]

Just put in today. She hasn't gone for it though, or anything else

The lump could be from not having grit available. Pictures would be good to make sure it is just the crop on her right side.

 

[Avigail]

The lump could be from not having grit available. Pictures would be good to make sure it is just the crop on her right side.

Will post tomorrow. It is in the right side. I have one chicken missing some neck feathers and I can see two bulges on that chicken; one on the center of the throat and another lower down and to the chickens right side. That's just where I felt the hard, lumpy mass to be. If that's the only problem, does it take a bit for the chicken to stop gasping after its cleared? The lump is much reduced since the massage, but chicken is still gasping, lethargic, and not eating

 

[CluckerFamily]

When a chicken stretches their neck out with an open mouth, they are adjusting their crop.

 

[Avigail]

She seems a bit more energetic this morning, but still gasping. I put a video here

She does it on every inhale. She seems to shiver a bit at the bottom of each breath (cant see it, I can feel her do it when I hold her). I cant feel her crop this morning, no bulge or hardness at all.

 

[JCaseyHammond]

She seems a bit more energetic this morning, but still gasping. I put a video here

She does it on every inhale. She seems to shiver a bit at the bottom of each breath (cant see it, I can feel her do it when I hold her). I cant feel her crop this morning, no bulge or hardness at all.

That looks like a respiratory struggle for air. Not a crop adjustment. ***Edited to add, do not force fluids or she may choke. You could mix Savachick or Nutridrench in warm water and dip her beak down into it. Wake her up and let her drink. Isolate her in a warm draft free hospital cage. Avoid the airway (center hole in the throat)